CLAS Acts December 2021

Monthly newsletter of the TT faculty of CLAS

A Note from Dean Drake

I recently returned from my first in-person conference since before the pandemic began.  We navigated the hugs vs. elbow bumps awkwardness with color-coded stickers on our nametags.  I connected with other Arts and Sciences deans from across Michigan and around the country to talk about challenges and initiatives, including strategies for diversifying our faculty, supporting our students, and engaging with alumni and donors.

One of the conference standouts for me was the keynote by Cathy Davidson entitled “Creating Structural Conditions for Student and Faculty Success,” which she argues are deeply intertwined.  She talked about the material conditions of students’ lives; the challenges of ‘the hidden curriculum,’ particularly for our first-gen students; the centrality of active learning in student learning; and the importance of balancing teaching, scholarship, and leadership in our systems for faculty reward and recognition.  We still have a few copies of her book (The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World in Flux) in our office if you’d like to learn more about her perspective.

On December 6, the GVSU Arts Celebration and the Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance will present a holiday concert.  You’ll read more about this event in the feature article below.  I’d recommend arriving early for the best seats, and be sure to bring your mask.

As we have the end of this term in sight, I want to extend a big thank you for making the first “back to campus” semester a success.  This was difficult and tiring, without a doubt, but also appreciated by the students.  Our Student Advisory Committee always acknowledges your hard work.

One of the best gifts faculty can give to staff and students is on-time grades.  Taking a few extra minutes to check that every last grade has been entered correctly will save the PSS many phone calls and after-hours work and can also save a student’s financial aid situation.  I appreciate your attention to making the 11:59 p.m., Monday, December 20 College deadline.

I’d also like to thank you for supporting Giving Tuesday yesterday.  We’ll know our results soon. Special thanks to those who put us in touch with students who had great high-impact experiences so we could share their testimonials with our alumni and friends on social media.

As we hold each other up, there has been copious sharing of resilience memes.  Myriad quotations about bouncing back or holding firm fall around us like snow. Mandela, Angelou, Duckworth and others all share insights about their phenomenal strength, but as December approaches I thought I’d offer this very West Michigan quotation by Kansas writer Greg Kincaid: “No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead. That’s the only way to keep the roads clear.”

May you find that the road is clear to the end of term.

With gratitude and (sweatered) warmth,

Jen

Masked Beauty and the Art of Vulnerability

On Monday, December 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the spectacular Fountain Street Church, the GVSU Arts Celebration and the Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance will present “Coming Together to Celebrate the Holidays.”

Togetherness has been in short supply in the last 18 months, so when Kody Wallace arrived in Fall 2020 to be the new assistant professor serving as Director of Choral Activities and Conductor of the University Arts Chorale, many of the time-honored ways of rehearsing were literally out the window—outside in a tent.

Kody remained sanguine, “That presented opportunities and challenges.  Many of us teaching outdoors discovered unexpected distractions - people walking around, bees flying in wreaking havoc.  Acoustics play a role in singing and so the room and materials in it matter.  Tile, carpet, and stone all reverberate differently.”

Working through the colder months on Zoom was a hard transition.  “The role of a conductor is to assess constantly, listening to the ensemble perform on a second-to-second basis, notes, rhythms, pronunciation, text inflection—so Zoom is a substantial hurdle.  By spring, Cook DeWitt was open and allowed us to space out and provide virtual concerts.” 

Despite all the challenges, three of these virtual performances went ahead.

“This Fall due to the vax mandate, the American Choral Directors Association and the CDC guidance, we were able to go back to regular rehearsals. All masked.  There were many challenges for the singers, technical hurdles,” Kody notes.

While recognizing the difficulties, Kody’s optimism and resilience continue to inspire.  He offers, “You know, there is a big myth about singing –that you are born to do it or not.  In the achievement motivation literature, it has been shown that freehand drawing and singing are hampered by cultural assumptions about whether you can learn to do them or not.  ‘Can’t carry a tune in a bucket’ couldn’t be further from the truth.  It really is no different from any hobby: deliberate, focused practice leads to measurable improvement.” 

Even with all the creative work-arounds and adaptation, there will be something very special for the performers on December 6 at the first live choral performance in two years.  Kody explains, “It is exciting for students.”  It will be Kody’s first chance to have a live performance since his arrival at GVSU.

From an artistic standpoint, putting together a performance like this one starts with an idea of what the story is that you want to tell.  “Every concert is a story we are trying to tell.  Carefully selecting repertoire is paramount, and choral repertoire predates our orchestral and instrumental colleagues so that means that a huge breadth of music that has been composed over the last 3,000 years.  Choosing the pieces tells a deeper story, affirms us, moves us to a place of interconnectedness and greater humanity, reminds us of the ways in which we are the same.  Empathy can be built by music—in fact, it is unmatched in its capacity to do this.”

 

To bring us back together after so long apart, this program seeks to connect us to several different cultures and time periods. The orchestra and choirs will be performing music from places especially touched by COVID.  Kody notes that this great breadth of physical places and cultural heritages acknowledges the global reach of the pandemic experience with COVID faced by the entire world, with restrictions on our travel, and that it was faced together as the human species.

Kody notes some highlights from the program such as Gaudete! By Michael Engelhardt with a melody drawn from medieval Latin songs, a Spanish folksong titled A La Nanita, Handel’s Hallelujah! from Messiah, Bach’s Nun seid ihr wohl gerochen, and well-known carols for a final sing along.

Kody is excited that this concert has something for everyone, some that “you’ll know the opening bars” and others that will be new treats.  “Robert Shaw[i] said that what kept him excited was that someone in the audience will hear a given piece for first time and someone may hear it for the last time.”

Kody recalls a high school music experience that changed the direction of his life.  He keeps that potential in mind as he works.

And work it has been to prepare this large performance under difficult circumstances.  “When are we going to rehearse? Where? Henry [Duitman] and I worked through a rehearsal and performance schedule to allow spacing.  The chamber orchestra comprises students, faculty and Grand Rapids Symphony members—some of whom only come together for two dress rehearsals.  We can’t feed the performers in the venue[ii].  We adjust.  There is no direction to go but forward.  You plan for the hiccups.” 

All of this preparation is worth it. While technology is such that it is easy to hear a perfect recording, none of that replicates the experience of live performance.  Kody explains, “It is about musicians taking risks at this one beautiful, fully present time that will never happen again.”

Having begun as a trombonist, Kody is well placed to discern both the bravery in all performance but also the added vulnerability of performance for singers who are their instrument.  The stress of pandemic is a factor.  Butterflies don’t necessarily go away. 

“There is a beauty in that too that we’ve missed.”

 

For more information on this free performance and pandemic protocols at the venue, see the GVSU Arts Celebration website.

 

______________________

[i] (30 April 1916 – 25 January 1999) an American conductor. 

[ii] The Fountain Street Church Board decided to forego the serving of food on the premises until at least the new year.